Wednesday, February 19, 2025
New data on the housing market is out this morning ahead of the opening bell, further illustrating a profounds cooling down in this industry. We also see a slew of new quarterly earnings this morning, most of which are beating expectations but lowering guidance. Thus, we see the Dow -125 points at this hour, the S&P 500 is -15 and the Nasdaq -40.
Housing Starts, Building Permits Mixed in January
New Housing Starts last month were notably lower than the previous month: January’s tally of 1.37 million seasonally adjusted, annualized units was slightly below the 1.4 million expected, but more than 100K under December’s 1.51 million. Single-family starts — where the big profits are made in this industry — were down -8.4% month over month. Multi-family levels were also lower, but not as drastically.
Building Permits reached 1.48 million for the month, in-line with December’s total and now three-straight months at 1.48 million or higher. This morning’s headline was higher than the 1.46 million analysts were looking for. Permits are seen as a proxy for future housing starts.
That said, with mortgage rates moving from +7% to +7.25% last month, the appetite for new housing is suffering. We saw yesterday in the NAHB homebuilders survey that confidence in the industry dropped -5% to a 5-month low. Even being at the foothills of the spring homebuilding season, we remain concerned that prospective homebuyers will remain on the sidelines — either until rates start coming down or at least some clarity to the future economy starts to appear.
Quarterly Earnings Roundup: ETSY, GRMN, JLL
Etsy ETSY shares are down -6.7% this morning, after Q4 earnings beat expectations but quarterly sales came in below estimates. Earnings of $1.03 per share outpaced the 95 cents in the Zacks consensus by +8.4%, while revenues of $852.2 million missed the $861.7 million analysts were projecting. Shares are giving back most of their +8.3% gains made year to date. For more on ETSY’s earnings, click here.
Check out the updated Zacks Earnings Calendar here.
GPS products provider Garmin GRMN reported outperformance on both top and bottom lines in its Q4 report before today’s opening bell: earnings of $2.41 per share came in +24% higher than the anticipated $1.89, and even more than the year-ago’s reported $1.72 per share. Revenues of $1.82 billion surged beyond the consensus $1.68 billion, and shares are +10% in today’s pre-market on the news. For more on GRMN’s earnings, click here.
Chicago-based retail management corporation Jones Lang LaSalle JLL outpaced expectations this morning, with earnings of $6.15 per share easily ahead of the $5.79 expected, with revenues of $6.81 billion bettering the $6.48 billion analysts were looking for. Higher transactional growth led the way in the quarter. Shares initially spike on the news, but have come back down to yesterday’s close. Shares are up +11.4% year to date.
What to Expect from the Stock Market Today
The biggest news we’re anticipating before the closing bell today is the release of the Fed meeting minutes from last month, where the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) predictably kept interest rates steady at +4.25-4.50%. Based on data and opinion we’ve seen lately, we don’t expect this to change any time in the near future. Thus, we may seek nuances in the notes today, but feel we are unlikely to be surprised by any particulars.
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Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Etsy, Inc. (ETSY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
